Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) held a ceremony on its east campus on Sept 3 to welcome its 3,008 new students.

BFSU holds a matriculation ceremony on Sept 3 to welcome its new students. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Those in attendance at the event included Wang Dinghua, Party secretary of the CPC BFSU committee; Yang Dan, deputy Party secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and president of the university; Jia Dezhong, member of the standing committee of the CPC BFSU committee and vice-president of the university; Jia Wenjian, deputy Party secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and vice-president of the university; Sun Youzhong, member of the standing committee of the CPC BFSU committee and vice-president of the university; Hu Zhigang, deputy Party secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and secretary of the discipline inspection commission; Zhao Gang, member of the standing committee of the CPC BFSU committee and vice-president of the university; and Zhao Zhijin, an alumna from the 2005 class.

The ceremony was moderated by Jia Dezhong.

Yang Dan, deputy Party secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and president of the university, addresses the matriculation ceremony. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

In his speech at the ceremony, Yang extended a warm welcome and congratulations to newly enrolled students, and stressed the importance of making Chinese stories better known.

Yang called on them to pass down the fine traditions forged by their predecessors and promote the building of a linguistic community and a barrier-free world for communication with equality in different languages.

BFSU students should embrace diverse perspectives, discover and present a real, multi-dimensional and all-round image of China, and leverage their linguistic advantages to introduce to the world the profoundness, vividness and prospects of the country bearing rich history and bright future, he said.

Yang also urged all the students to use foreign languages to express China's voice, promote Chinese culture, and share China's experiences.

Yang said he hopes all fresh students will retain their unique personalities, become immersed in distinctive traditions and culture of the university, bear national concerns and people’s needs in mind, and strengthen the ambition, integrity and confidence as Chinese people when they step out of the campus.

Zhao Zhijin, a BFSU alumna from the 2005 class and newscaster from CGTN Français, gives a speech at the ceremony. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Zhao Zhijin, also a newscaster from CGTN Français under the China Media Group, encouraged her junior schoolmates to focus on their academic studies, make the best of what they have learned and have a clear understanding of themselves and their personal interests, as well as persist in life-long learning and independent thinking. She wished them a fulfilling university life, and growth into comprehensive, multi-linguistic and world-class talents with deep Chinese affections, a global mindset, critical thinking and cross-cultural competence.

Xu Jiajin, deputy director of the National Research Centre for Foreign Language Education and head of the Research Centre for Multilingual Corpora at BFSU·AI, delivers a speech as a teacher representative. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Xu Jiajin, deputy director of the National Research Centre for Foreign Language Education and head of the Research Centre for Multilingual Corpora at the BFSU Artificial Intelligence and Human Languages Lab (BFSU·AI), spoke as a teacher representative. He shared his life experience and understanding on the relationship between academic studies and the art of innovation and national development.

Three student representatives speak at the opening ceremony. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Li Ziyue, an undergraduate student from the School of Japanese and International Studies, Li Zehui, a graduate student from the School of English and International Studies, and Hryshayeva Katsiaryna, a doctoral student from Belarus from the School of Chinese Language and Literature, gave speeches as student representatives.

Wang Dinghua (C), Party secretary of the CPC BFSU committee, pins the university badge on the uniform of a student representative at the ceremony. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Wang Dinghua (L2), Party secretary of the CPC BFSU committee, poses for a group photo with student representatives after presenting them with student ID cards. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Wang pinned the university badge on the uniforms of the three student representatives and presented them with Student ID cards at the ceremony. The attending students also put on their badges, which officially marked their identity as a BFSUer.

Wang Dinghua (R), Party secretary of the CPC BFSU committee, receives a bunch of flowers from a student representative. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Yang Dan (R), deputy Party secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and president of the university, receives a bunch of flowers from a student representative. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

The four student representatives lead all the other attending new students in taking an oath of admission. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

New students at the BFSU opening ceremony. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

The opening ceremony was broadcast live through multiple video platforms, allowing students and overseas students as well as their parents to witness the event.